A Guide to Buying Your First Skydiving Gear
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This article by Alain Bard is meant as a general guide. We highly recommend contacting your local rigger and instructor before using any of the information provided in this article.

In the years Iíve been a rigger, Iíve often seen the results of skydiversí gear buying experiences. Most experiences go well, but some do not, and result in the buyer having to re-sell an inappropriate piece of gear they bought.

In this article, I am going to try to lay down some advice on how to go about choosing gear. Iím going to try to not go into brand specifics, but rather which components you should get and in what order, buying new or used, and sizing.

New vs. Used?

Letís tackle this one first. Should you buy new or used? Traditional advice is that if this is your first set of gear: you should buy used. Youíll probably only use your first set of gear for the first 100 jumps or so. If you buy used skydiving gear, you can save some money (over new) while jumping your first set of gear, and take your time figuring out what you really want before you commit to buying new equipment.

Letís break it down though.

So to put together a rig, you have to get 4 components: a harness/container, a reserve parachute, an Automatic Activation Device (AAD) and a main parachute. Whether to buy each of these pieces new or used depends on the piece.

AAD

Letís start with the easy one: the AAD. Used or new does not matter, as youíre paying a fixed cost per year for these units. This fixed cost per year varies between $80-160 per year depending on which unit you choose. If budget is an issue, and you can find one used, grab it. Used AADs are rare as they expire faster than the gear they are in. If your budget allows, you can buy new. AADs are super easy to re-sell if you ever need to.

Reserve Parachute

Next up: the reserve parachute. For newbies, I always recommend buying a used reserve parachute, as you can save a significant amount of money here, and the benefit of a new reserve isnít really justified over the cost of a new one. Reserve parachutes donít get used very often, and even after 10 years, are usually in next to perfect condition. A 10-year old reserve of the same design is the same as a brand new one, itís just cheaper to buy. Ensure the reserve has less than 5 or so ďridesĒ and is no older than 15-18 years old.

Also, ensure it has no holes, patches or repairs, or if it does, make sure the cost is much less, and consider sending it back to the factory to have it checked out first.

Main Parachute

For the main parachute, my advice is the opposite to a reserve. I recommend buying a main with as few jumps as possible (under 200 if possible). Buying a new main parachute is preferable, if budget allows. You will use this parachute to save your life 99.9% of the time. Its condition matters. Age isnít really that much of a concern as much as the number of jumps. I like to make sure a main parachute still has its original lines, because you can tell the number of jumps by the condition of the lines. Trying to estimate the number of jumps on a canopy after a reline is sometimes difficult if the parachute fabric has been kept clean, dry and out of the sun. Another consideration is where the jumps were made. A parachute that was jumped in the summer in Canada or the US Northeast on green grass for only 6 months of each year will be in much better condition than one jumped all year round in desert-like or beach locations. Sand really eats away at the fabric coating and gets into the seams.

If budget is really an issue, then a modern-design (last 10-15 years) used main parachute with more jumps is OK too, but make sure to have your rigger take a look and donít pay too much for it, as itís not going to be worth as much.

Again, ensure it has no holes, patches or repairs, or if it does, make sure pay much less, and consider sending it back to the factory to have it checked out first.

Harness/Container

Last is the harness/container, for 80% of newbies, a used harness/container is probably the right way to go. Newbies tend not to land on their feet 100% of the time, and if you get a used harness/container a little dirty or scuffed up, it wonít matter as much. The problem is getting the right size for both the canopies *and* for your body (ie. harness size). Sizing for canopies is easy enough, but then sometimes itís difficult to find the perfect sized harness. Having a harness that is a little too big or too small isnít the end of the world, but itís not as comfortable as a made-to-measure harness. If the harness is more than a little too big or too small, then resizing a harness is always an option, but it may cost more to have a harness resized than the harness/container is worth.

For 20% of newbies, their body type makes it almost impossible to find a used harness/container. Iím talking about the 6í guy who weighs 120lbs, or the 4í8Ē girl who weighs 95lbs, or on the other end of the spectrum, what youíll find advertised as ďbig-boy rigsĒ for really large and/or heavy people. For these people that fall outside the average body types, while resizing a harness is sometimes an option, getting a new harness/container is sometimes a better option. Some manufacturers make basic rigs with no bells or whistles that end up costing less than a used, fully featured harness/container. Iím talking about rigs like the Shadow Racer and the Rigging Innovations Genera. These are great rigs at an even better price.

Also, if you are a serving military member, some manufacturers offer incentives (up to 30% off) on new gear. This is a great deal, and a no-brainer. If you are eligible for such discounts, get new stuff!

Before I move on, I want to mention that when you buy used, you will have to keep an open mind when it comes to colors. Itís the price you pay to save some money.

So now WHAT should I buy, but more importantly Ė in what order?

So youíve been jumping a certain size main for a while and think youíre ready to downsize and get a different set of gear. Great! Letís go through it.

One of the biggest gear-buying mistakes is choosing (or buying) a harness/container first, and then trying to fit the canopies into a container that was not sized for those canopies, soÖ.

Hereís the order in which you should think about it:

Select the Reserve canopy first.

Select an appropriately sized reserve. Your reserve should be big enough to not seriously hurt or kill you in the event of an unconscious reserve landing (no flare). This means that your reserve should be sized according to your wing loading on that reserve.

For most people, that means I recommend getting a reserve at least one size bigger than the main you intend to jump. So if you think you want to jump a 150-size main parachute, get a 160 or 170-size reserve, and if you're a big guy that jumps a tiny cross-braced canopy, you'll maybe still want a 170-sized reserve (4-8 times larger than your main). Youíll thank me when you actually need to use the reserve.

Then, pick a main, any main. Well, not really, but decide on the size of main you want to jump. You can pick the type of main later, but decide on size now.

Now you can think about a harness/container!

Then and only then start doing the research on what brand of harness/container you want based on the features you think are important to you. Look at harness/container manufacturersí published volume charts to see which size container you would need to fit the reserve. You want to pick a size of container that fits the reserve and is described as ďsoftĒ or ďnormalĒ fit (if those descriptors are available). Stay away from a ďtightĒ reserve fit at all costs.

Youíll quickly notice that not all the manufacturers offer combinations that will fit a reserve thatís larger than a main. Thatís really a shame. You should really ask those manufacturers why they donít offer this.

An expensive solution to this problem is a low-bulk reserve, which is marketed a being able to pack one size smaller than a regular reserve. So, if you want a container combination that fits a regular 150-sized main, and only fits a 150-size reserve, a low-bulk 160 reserve may be an option. Careful though, it doesnít scale down. For instance, a low-bulk 126 reserve may not fit in a 113-sized container, or it may fit but be so tight that it interferes with the normal deployment of the reserve. This is bad, and should be avoided.

So youíve picked a reserve, and you know what size of harness/container you need, only then should you start looking at the classifieds to see if you can find something that has the right size harness attached to it.

If you find something that you think fits, or described by the seller as fitting someone your size, ask the seller for the serial number of the harness/container. Then contact the manufacturer of the rig (even if it was made 10 or 20 years ago), and ask them what size the harness was made to fit. Most manufacturers keep data on all the rigs they have ever built, and will be happy to disclose this information to you, and discuss whether it would fit you based on your measurements. There is no need for guessing games. You can know before you even buy whether or not the harness/container will fit you. The only exception to this rule is if the harness has previously been re-sized, which is uncommon.

Main Parachute

7-cell, 9-cell, F111, ZP, Hybrid, low bulk, square, semi-elliptical, elliptical, air locked, cross-braced, etc., etcÖ There are many mains on the market today. There is no right or wrong answer here. It depends on what you want to do. Iíll have to save this topic for another article. Refer to my comments above on age and condition.

Donít forget the AAD!

The last part is to get an AAD. As long as the AAD in question is within its service life, has been maintained at the proper interval (if required), operates normally, and is approved for the harness/container you want to put it in, then youíre good to go.

So there you have it. Itís not always obvious at first, so I hope this guide will help some of you out.

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5 Comments

Seriously; do not buy a brand new main parachute unless you mean to keep it and jump it for a very long time. Relatively speaking, the newer the canopy is, the more money you'll 'lose' on reselling it.

And you'd really stint on your last chance reserve canopy in favour of buying a newer main?

Also, buying a new main means packing it will be more difficult than a main with 100+ jumps on it. For me, that meant I had to buy lots of beer the first 80ish jumps on my brand new spectre... Just sayin' ;-) I for one would recommend a 2nd hand main to most new jumpers.

Both good points there, and I for one know first hand what a drama packing a new canopy is. I bought my first set of gear and kept crashing:At a training camp my landings were recorded: First thing noticed was I was coming down almost vertically in low wind and others were gliding far flatter: I was flaring, but the old F111 was barely responding. Too porous and had had the arse jumped out of it was the assesment. So a new one: wahoo, happy days. Yet the DZ I bought it from still insists to this day I wasn't flaring....must be their ego when a CI and a rigger said otherwise and it has been proven. I like my femurs the way they are!

Buying a first rig for a new jumper should include a widely used, workable, functioning, proven RSL. Inquire about what harness/containers provide for this feature. In my opinion, you should eliminate any harness/ container that does not.